The food service industry is an important component of the modern economy. One aspect of the food service industry is food catering, or in other words, the business of providing food service at a remote location. Generally, the remote location is different from the location where the food is originally prepared. Businesses often use food catering to meet the food consumption needs or desires of employees at the work place. Organizers of special events, such as weddings, banquets, conventions, and the like, frequently make use of the food catering industry. Individual homeowners even purchase catered food items for parties or special occasions, such as holidays, in the home. These are only a few of the many circumstances where food catering might be desirable.
Food caterers can prepare, transport, and serve hors d'oeuvres, drinks, or even complete meals. Many events require an adherence, for example, to a color or style theme, type of food, arrangement, or other similar requirements for making the food attractive. This enhances the ambience and atmosphere of the event, and as a result, attendees of the event are more likely to become pleased and satisfied. The appearance and presentation of the food can augment such an effort.
Conventionally, food catering is labor intensive. For example, after food and other supplies arrive at the commissary or other suitable preparation facility, cooks may prepare, and if needed, bake the food. Food handlers or food caterers then place the prepared food in a container such as a plastic container, or on a platter, and then cover the container or platter, for example, using cellophane. The containers or platters are then transported to a serving location. Once at the serving location, food handlers remove the cellophane and/or transfer the food from the container or platter to different locations. In other words, to comply with the style theme, arrangement requirements, or other demands, the food must be handled multiple times.
Moreover, the food caterers often carry additional decorative or food supplies to arrange or beautify the food after it arrives at the serving location. The logistic chain is complicated because of the additional decorative or food supplies that must be provided, tracked, and replenished. Putting food in containers at one location and taking the food out at another location to assemble the food to comply with a specific arrangement or style theme, requires a substantial amount of time, and increases the number of times the food is touched or otherwise handled. When humans handle food multiple times, inevitably the risk of food contamination increases, and in the worst cases, can lead to food-transmitted illnesses.
Food is delicate. Cellophane can damage the appearance of food. For example, hors d'oeuvres with icing can have their icing smeared. Small cakes can be smashed or otherwise broken to pieces. Sandwiches can fall apart. One type of food may mingle with another type, resulting in an undesirable combination of food. Such effects are exacerbated by the very nature of food catering, which involves transporting the food in vehicles such as trucks, sometimes over hills or rough roads, or in push carts that can be frequently rattled when pushed over door thresholds, into elevators, and the like. While containers with lids can provide some degree of protection, food can nevertheless be easily damaged, even while located in an ostensibly “safe” container.
Further, every time the food is touched or handled, the chances of ruining the appearance of the food increases, and as previously mentioned, the risk of transmitting illness also increases. Because of the complex aspects of food catering, i.e., from the preparation facility, to the cooks, to the food handlers who pack the food into containers, to the drivers who transport the food from the preparation facility to the serving location, and to the food handlers who again handle the food by unpacking and arranging the food according to various desires, risk of damage and contamination to the food is high.
The presentation of food at a special event can determine the difference between a successful or failed event. Conventional food catering techniques are inadequate to ensure the successful event. If the food is damaged or disorganized, the attendees will be disappointed, unsure about the food's purity, or may altogether refuse to eat. If the food is contaminated, many or all of the attendees might get ill, which on one end of the spectrum can lead to a couple of days of discomfort, and on the other end of the spectrum, can inflict serious and extensive harm on society.
Accordingly, there is a need for improved food catering apparatuses and techniques. Embodiments of the invention address these and other limitations in the prior art.